International disputes: Sierra Leone opposes Guinean troops' continued occupation of Yenga, a small village on the Makona River that serves as a border with Guinea; Guinea's forces came to Yenga in the mid-1990s to help the Sierra Leonean military to suppress rebels and to secure their common border but have remained there even after both countries signed a 2005 agreement acknowledging that Yenga belonged to Sierra Leone; in 2012, the two sides signed a declaration to demilitarize the area.

Geography

Sierra Leone, on the Atlantic Ocean in West Africa, is half the size of
Illinois. Guinea, in the north and east, and Liberia, in the south, are
its neighbors. Mangrove swamps lie along the coast, with wooded hills and
a plateau in the interior. The eastern region is mountainous.

Government

Constitutional democracy.

History

The Bulom people were thought to have been the earliest inhabitants of
Sierra Leone, followed by the Mende and Temne peoples in the 15th century
and thereafter the Fulani. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to
explore the land and gave Sierra Leone its name, which means “lion
mountains.” Freetown, on the coast, was ceded to English settlers in 1787
as a home for blacks discharged from the British armed forces and also for
runaway slaves who had found asylum in London. In 1808 the coastal area
became a British colony, and in 1896 a British protectorate was proclaimed
over the hinterland.

Sierra Leone became an independent nation on April 27, 1961. A military
coup overthrew the civilian government in 1967, which was in turn replaced
by civilian rule a year later. The country declared itself a republic on
April 19, 1971.

A coup attempt early in 1971 led to then prime minister Siaka Stevens
calling in troops from neighboring Guinea's army, which remained for two
years. Stevens turned the government into a one-party state under the
aegis of the All People's Congress Party in April 1978. In 1992 rebel
soldiers overthrew Stevens's successor, Joseph Momoh, calling for a return
to a multiparty system. In 1996, another military coup ousted the
country's military leader and president. Nevertheless, a multiparty
presidential election proceeded in 1996, and People's Party candidate
Ahmad Tejan Kabbah won with 59.4% of the vote, becoming Sierra Leone's
first democratically elected president.

A Decade-Long Civil War

But a violent military coup ousted President Kabbah's civilian
government in May 1997. The leader of the coup, Lieut. Col. Johnny Paul
Koroma, assumed the title Head of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council
(AFRC). Koroma began a reign of terror, destroying the economy and
murdering enemies. The Commonwealth of Nations demanded the reinstatement
of Kabbah, and ECOMOG, the Nigerian-led peacekeeping force, intervened. On
March 10, 1998, after ten months in exile, Kabbah resumed his rule over
Sierra Leone. The ousted junta and other rebel forces continued to wage
attacks, many of which included the torture, rape, and brutal maimings of
thousands of civilians, including countless children; amputation by
machete was the horrific signature of the rebels. In addition to political
power, the rebels, who were supported by Liberia's president Charles
Taylor, sought control of Sierra Leone's rich diamond fields.

In Jan. 1999, rebels and Liberian mercenaries stormed the capital,
demanding the release of the imprisoned Revolutionary United Front (RUF)
leader, Foday Sankoh. ECOMOG regained control of Freetown, but President
Kabbah later released Sankoh so he could participate in peace
negotiations. Pressured by Nigeria and the U.S., among other countries,
Kabbah agreed to an untenable power-sharing agreement in July 1999, which
made Sankoh vice president of the country—and in charge of the diamond
mines. The accord dissolved in May 2000 after the RUF abducted about 500
UN peacekeepers and attacked Freetown. Sankoh was captured and died in
government custody in 2003, while awaiting trial for war crimes.

The conflict was officially declared over in Jan. 2002. An estimated
50,000 people were killed in the decade-long civil war. The UN installed
its largest peacekeeping force in the country (17,000 troops). President
Kabbah was reelected with 70% of the vote in May 2002. In 2004, the
disarmament of 70,000 soldiers was completed, and a UN-sponsored war
crimes tribunal opened. For the past several years, the UN has listed
Sierra Leone as the world's “least livable” country, based on its poverty
and the poor quality of life endured by its citizens.

The trial of Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president, on charges
of crimes against humanity began at a UN criminal court at The Hague in
2007. He was charged with abetting the violent rebel group in Sierra Leone's
civil war that was responsible for atrocities, which included hacking off
the limbs of civilians, sexual slavery, conscripting child soldiers, and
even cannibalism. In April 2012, after deliberating for more than a year, the court, comprised of three judges from Ireland, Samoa, and Uganda, convicted Taylor of crimes against humanity and war crimes for his support of the rebels. His conviction is the first by an international court since the Nuremberg trials.

In June 2007, three former rebel leaders were convicted of crimes
against humanity by a UN-backed court. Alex Tamba Brima, Brima Bazzy
Kamara, and Santigie Borbor Kanumurder were found guilty of rape and
enlisting child soldiers. It was the first time an international tribunal
ruled on the recruitment of children under age 15 as soldiers.

In September 2007 elections, the governing party suffered a surprising
defeat when opposition leader Ernest Koroma, of the All People's Congress
(APC), defeated Vice President Solomon E. Berewa, of the Sierra Leone
People's Party (SLPP), 55% to 45%. The elections were Sierra Leone's first
since the United Nations peacekeeping force left the county in 2004. Koroma was reelected in November 2012 to a second and final term. It was the first election held without UN supervision, and the results were deemed fair.

The UN Security Council lifted the last sanctions on Sierra Leone in September 2010, having determined that the government had gained control over the country from the rebels and that the rebels had been disarmed and had been integrated into the national army.

In April 2012, after deliberating for more than a year, the war crimes court at the Hague convicted former Liberian president Charles Taylor of aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sierra Leone's civil war. His conviction was the first by an international court since the Nuremberg trials. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison.

Ebola Outbreak Kills Hundreds

An outbreak of Ebola hit Sierra Leone in March 2014. By early December, it is estimated to have killed about 1,660 people in Sierra Leone, and there were about 7,635 suspected and confirmed cases of it in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control. It is the worst outbreak since the virus was first identified almost 40 years ago. In order to contain the virus, Sierra Leone instituted a 3-day lockdown on the country and an army police, soldiers, and about 30,000 volunteers went door to door looking for victims.